Human milk contains a number of components that contribute to the growth and development of the brain in infants. But, cow's milk and many commercially available infant formulas that are based on cow's milk provide lower than desirable amounts of some of these components, like long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, lactoferrin and polar lipids. Therefore, there is a need to provide a formula matrix that more closely mimics the composition and qualities of human milk in order to optimize brain growth and development in infants and children.
Thus, it would be useful to provide methods and nutritional compositions that are able to provide improved neurological health and function, including cognition, language development and motor skills in early life. It would also be useful to promote and support immune function, gastrointestinal health and brain function as a way of achieving these results.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a method for supporting cognitive development in a subject, involving administering to the subject a nutritional composition which includes buttermilk, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and prebiotics, optionally also in combination with one or more of lactoferrin, short chain fatty acids and vitamin B12. In some embodiments, the nutritional composition also includes a fat or lipid, carbohydrate and protein or protein equivalent source.